Most previous work on the historical fertility transition has been macro-oriented, using aggregate data to examine economic correlates of demographic behaviour at regional or national levels, while much less has been done using micro data, and specifically looking at behavioural differentials among social groups. In this paper we study at the impact of socioeconomic status on net fertility during the fertility transition in five Northern American and European Countries (Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the USA). We use micro-level census data in 1900, containing information on number of children by age, occupation of the mother and father, place of residence and household context. The results show highly similar patterns across countries, with the elite and upper middle classes having considerably lower net fertility early in the transition. These patterns remain also after controlling for a range of individual and community-level fertility determinants and geographical unobserved heterogeneity.

This article deals with the possible existence of deliberate fertility control before the fertility transition. The timing of the fertility response to economic stress, as measured by fluctuations in grain prices, is used as a measure of deliberate, but non-parity specific, control. Birth histories from six German villages , including information on occupation of the husband, are used together with community-wide grain price series in a micro level eventhistory analysis. The results show a negative fertility response to grain prices both in the year immediately following the price change, and with a one-year lag. The response was also highly different between socioeconomic groups, with the most pronounced effects among the unskilled laborers. Moreover, the response in this group was very rapid, already present 3-6 months after the price change. Because all involuntary fertility responses to economic hardship (e.g. malnutrition, spousal separation, and spontaneous abortion) come with a considerable time lag, the existence of such a rapid response among the lower social groups suggests that individual agency (deliberate control) was an important aspect of reproductive behavior also before the fertility transition.Keywords: Deliberate fertility control, natural fertility, historical demography, Cox proportional hazards model, economic stress 1 Mise en évidence d'un contrôle volontaire des naissances dans des populations pré-transitionnelles: Le cas de 6 villages allemands, 1766-1863 Abstract This article deals with the possible existence of deliberate fertility control before the fertility transition. The timing of the fertility response to economic stress, as measured by fluctuations in grain prices, is used as a measure of deliberate, but non-parity specific, control. Birth histories from six German villages (1766-1863), including information on occupation of the husband, are used together with community-wide grain price series in a micro level eventhistory analysis. The results show a negative fertility response to grain prices both in the year immediately following the price change, and with a one-year lag. The response was also highly different between socioeconomic groups, with the most pronounced effects among unskilled laborers. Moreover, the response in this group was very rapid, already present 3-6 months after the price change. Because all involuntary fertility responses to economic hardship (e.g. malnutrition, spousal separation, and spontaneous abortion) come with a considerable time lag, the existence of such a rapid response among the lower social groups suggests that individual agency (deliberate control) was an important aspect of reproductive behavior even before the fertility transition.Keywords: Deliberate fertility control, natural fertility, historical demography, Cox proportional hazards model, economic stress Résumé Cet article s'intéresse à l'existence possible d'un contrôle volontaire des naissances avant la transition de la fécondité. Le calendrier de l'évolution de la fécondité e...

The societal integration of immigrants is a great concern in many of today’s Western societies, and has been so for a long time. Whether we look at Europe in 2015 or the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, large flows of immigrants pose challenges to receiving societies. While much research has focused on the socioeconomic integration of immigrants there has been less interest in their demographic integration, even though this can tell us as much about the way immigrants fare in their new home country. In this article we study the disparities in infant and child mortality across nativity groups and generations, using new, high-density census data. In addition to describing differentials and trends in child mortality among 14 immigrant groups relative to the native-born white population of native parentage, we focus special attention on the association between child mortality, immigrant assimilation, and the community-level context of where immigrants lived. Our findings indicate substantial nativity differences in child mortality, but also that factors related to the societal integration of immigrants explains a substantial part of these differentials. Our results also point to the importance of spatial patterns and contextual variables in understanding nativity differentials in child mortality.

BACKGROUND Cold-related conditions represent one of the most common causes of neonatal death in many developing countries. The effects of cold external temperatures on neonatal mortality at the onset of demographic transition recently have attracted scholarly interest. OBJECTIVE First, we aim to study the effects of cold temperatures on neonatal mortality at the onset of demographic transition, focusing on two Italian rural parishes between 1820 and 1900. Second, we aim to assess whether the effects vary according to socioeconomic status (SES), especially among the most vulnerable social groups. METHODS We apply logistic regression and discrete-time event history analysis using micro-data from parish registers and daily records of external temperature. RESULTS The risk of death during the first month of life varied according to external temperature's variation and to socioeconomic status, demonstrating that neonates born to landless rural labourers generally suffered a higher neonatal mortality risk during winter and, more specifically; in case of low temperature at the childbirth during coldest months. CONCLUSIONS The risk of neonatal death increased as external temperatures decreased. The clear influence of temperature on the day of birth suggests that low temperatures on the day of birth exerted a fundamental scarring effect on children's survival. We also find significant differences in neonatal mortality by SES, resulting in more pronounced effects from season and temperature in rural proletarian families. The results show that

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